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Computers and Liars

The weary club organizer was trying hard to keep his eyes open on that particular Thursday evening. An endless amount of coffee and the Tom-and-Jerry-like matches in the eyes technique combined would not have been enough for success. “Be strong. Don’t break under the weight of the exam period.” said the voice within. A group of ten people gathered to discuss a few questions regarding computerized education, and also try out a new game together.

It is beyond doubt that with the arrival of the 21st century computers have invaded the area of education. So much so that in certain parts of the world (for example the States), childen do not even visit the schools personally. They stay at home, sit down in front of their computers, and cover the material online, using some educational software.

Although CNN education contributor Steve Perry says (video below) these online classes are based upon social networks, that is, students are actually in contact with their fellows or the teachers, the obvious question still arises: is this way of studying advantageous from the perspective of social life? Besides, Balázs came up with the question of motivation, conjuring up the following scenario: when we have to take an oral test in class, we are surrounded by our classmates while the teacher is standing in front of us. In that case, we are under pressure in a sense, and this pressure must affect our motivation. When it comes to online classes, this factor is out of the game.

There are, of course, many things in favor of online studying. One of the advantages would be that parents can monitor their children’s learning process more easily. There is much less miscommunication between the school and the parent. What’s more, children cannot really accuse any of their teachers of being unjust, asking something in the test that wasn’t covered, and so on.

We all agreed that, regardless of the presence of computers in education, the idea of replacing teachers with them in the long run is way too farfetched. Computers prove to be useful in many cases, but there are certain human factors that they won’t be able to substitute for – at least that’s what we think today. On a personal note, as long as we cannot have a realistic conversation with a computer chat bot, like Cleverbot, we can’t expect machines to take the place of flesh and blood teachers.

We wound up playing a hilarious game. It’s called “Poker Face” and it requires its players to become professional liars. Five cards are dealt to each player. In turns, we put one card on the table face down and tell a story of ourselves. If it is a black card, the story has to be true, but if it is a red one, the story has to be made-up. The point is to make everyone believe all our stories while we get rid of our five cards. In case we are not convincing enough and they become suspicious, they have the option of challenging our story. If it turns out to be made up, we have to start all over, picking up all our cards from the table.

Club organizer and part-time magician Fanni pulling off a poker one night. A few months later she reenacted her trick with the same hand. Investigators are baffled.

Although the rules needed some fine-tuning in the beginning, everyone seemed to enjoy the short stories and fun facts, and most of all the surprise that some of us are indeed professional liars.

We have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that June 5 is the last club meeting this season. The organizers deserve a bit of vacation, too. The good news: we are taking a break so that we can refresh our brains and collect our brilliant ideas for the next season. As always, we have quite a lot of plans for making the club better. Don’t forget that the final event will be held at a different place, as CD-FŰ closes for the summer on the last day of May. Come to Erzsébet tér, we’ll be gathering by the pool around 6.

Check out the schedule and join the event on Facebook. See you next week!

About Zsombor

I am the founder of TAKE FIVE - English Language Club. I graduated from ELTE university as a teacher of English and Hungarian as a foreign language. In 2016, I started to work at a school where I teach children with special educational needs. I regularly write about my experiences in the classroom. Besides teaching, I'm also interested in film-making. I got my first camera at the age of 17, and I have been learning about cinema ever since. I spent 4 years studying film theory and history, and I also had a chance to spend half a year at the Budapest Film Academy attending a writing-directing course.